Battle of the Pelennor Fields
(including a 700-strong contingent from Dol Amroth ) * 6,000 Rohirrim cavalry soldiers *30 Northern Dúnedain |strength2=* 130,000 OrcsFoster, Robert (1971). Tolkien's World From A to Z, The Complete Guide to Middle Earth. Ballantine Books. pp. 48 & 49. * 18,000 Easterlings, Haradrim, and Variags * Several Oliphaunts and TrollsFoster, Robert (1971). Tolkien's World From A to Z, The Complete Guide to Middle Earth. Ballantine Books. pp. 48 & 49. |casualties1=Heavy |casualties2=Near total |prev = Siege of Gondor|conc = Battles of Lórien Battle Under the Trees Battle of Cirith Ungol|next = Battle of Dale}} The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was a battle for the city of Minas Tirith, and ultimately for Gondor, immediately following a large-scale siege of Minas Tirith by Sauron's army. It was the greatest battle of the War of the Ring, and indeed the largest of the entire Third Age. Major casualties resulted from the battle, including the deaths of King Théoden and the Witch-king of Angmar. History Prelude With Gondor's setback in the Battle of Osgiliath and the impending assault from Sauron's forces, Denethor was dismayed that Théoden did not come as quickly as he had hoped. Soon, despite the efforts of Faramir, the Rammas Echor was overrun, and the city isolated. The enemy began preparations for its attack, which commenced shortly and quickly pressed Minas Tirith greatly.''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the King'', Book Five, Ch. IV: "The Siege of Gondor" Arrival of Rohan Unknown to both Gondor and Mordor, the Drúedain secretly guided Théoden's army safely through the Drúadan Forest via an old, hidden road built by the Dúnedain long ago, and forgotten by all save the Wild Men. This allowed the Rohirrim to circumvent the defenses of the enemy on the northern road, and attack the forces of Mordor from the rear. Due to the dismantling of the walls of Minas Tirith, they could not mount a strong defense quickly, and Theoden's forces quickly overran the northern half of Pelennor. However, after forcing the retreat of the Haradrim cavalry, they were halted by the appearance of the Witch-king. He mortally wounded Theoden, who was crushed by his own horse.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. VI: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" At that moment, Éowyn and Merry Brandybuck rode up to face him. Éowyn smote the Fellbeast upon which he rode, and the Witch-king fell to the ground. He was unharmed by this, however, and he stood up menacingly, readying his mace. He swung at Éowyn, who managed to block the attack with her shield, which shattered under the great mace's force. Éowyn's arm was also shattered upon impact. She fell to the ground, and the Witch-king lifted his mace for a final blow. As he did so, Merry, who was behind him, stabbed him in the back of the leg with his Barrow-blade. The Witch-king was cripplingly wounded, and Éowyn used this distraction to drive her sword into his face, killing him. After that, the Rohirrim, under the command of Éomer, continued their assault, while the Footmen of Gondor launched their own counterattack. Even so, they were outmatched by the Mûmakil, Haradrim, and Southrons, as the enemy recovered surprisingly quickly from the loss of their commander. As the tide of battle turned against Gondor, the Men of the West saw something even more terrifying- one which made them lose all hope. The ships of Umbar had arrived.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter VI: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" The final stage Neither side knew that Aragorn and the Grey Company, with the help of the Army of the Dead, had vanquished the fleet of the Corsairs. The Army of the Dead repaid their debt to the King by driving the Men of Umbar upon the ships mad, causing them to jump off of their ships and drown. After loading the ships with as many allies of Minas Tirith as possible, they sailed north to the battle. Upon arriving, the enemy found itself in a very disadvantageous position, with their enemies where (and when) they least expected. The extra reinforcements brought by Aragorn punched a wide salient within the most vulnerable area of the Mordor-host, severing the forces nearer to Minas Tirith and the ones close to the river Anduin. The Men of Gondor and the Rohirrim exploited this tactical advantage to the fullest, utterly routing the enemy with prolonged infantry charges and cavalry pursuit. The tactical and moral advantage granted by that was effective in turning the battle into a rout of the Mordor host. Most of the Mordor-host was slain and the rest fled back toward the Land of Shadow. Corpses of both Orcs and Men lay in colossal carrion piles while the few stragglers crossed the Anduin through Osgiliath or on barges. A strong force of Easterlings fought to the last man, and Gothmog rallied many evil servants across the Pelennor to fight while their other Orc companions-at-arms retreated like sheep pursued by wolves. While they were utterly wiped out by the now numerically superior Armies of the West, they inflicted considerable casualties among their foes.. The battle was over by sunset, with most enemies dead and a meager few fleeing.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter VI: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" Losses on the Pelennor]] The Dark Host was lost all but completely. Few ever made it to Mordor, and fewer still survived of the Haradrim forces. However, they only represented a fraction of the forces of Sauron, although probably a significant portion of those who were armed and war-ready. Most important to Sauron was the loss of his mightiest servant, the Witch-king. Although the numbers lost were not incredibly significant to Sauron, as he could afford to lose many times that of his enemies, the loss of his chief servant was a devastating blow. The losses of the West were significant as well. In addition to the lost commanders, it was said by Éomer later that not 4000 Riders were combat worthy, and the losses in other forces were probably considerable as well. However, despite that, with the newcomers from Southern Gondor and more arriving by previous orders of Aragorn, even with all the losses of the battle and the 7000 heading for Morannon, the city was estimated to be better defended than before the battle, discounting the loss of the Gate.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. IX: "The Last Debate"The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. X: "The Black Gate Opens" Portrayal in adaptations Rankin and Bass In the 1980 animated Return of the King film, the battle is only seen partway through. The men amongst Sauron's forces are never clearly seen, only the Trolls, Orcs, and integrated Uruk-hai. Exchanges of arrows between the two sides are seen, as well as melee battles. Some of the Mordor forces ride the towers lashed to the backs of the Oliphaunts. As the battle rages on, Pippin alerts Gandalf to the Denethor's despair. Denethor insists that the West has failed, and he wishes his end to be on his terms and not Sauron's. Gandalf protests, reminding him that Theoden's forces from Rohan are en route. But Denethor reveals his Palantír, and informs Gandalf that even that will be only a brief reprieve because the black fleet from Umbar is sailing upriver towards them. He then orders his servants in, to burn him. (Note: Due to the censorship laws of the time the special had to dance around the fact that Denethor committed suicide, but Gandalf's "So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion" line confirms his death all the same). Eventually, the forces of Mordor bring out Grond, towed into position by a team of Oliphaunts and operated by trolls. The Witch-king of Angmar arrives to direct the ram, borne to the fight on his Fell Beast. Gandalf and Pippin ride down to the gate to confront him. As Gandalf and the Witch-king duel with words, they are interrupted by a the crowing of a rooster, announcing the new dawn. The Horn of Rohan sounds in answer, announcing the arrival of the Rohirrim. They charge into the fray, cutting through Sauron's troops. The Witch-king retreats for the time being. Merry and Pippin are reunited in the fracas. As the fight progresses for days, the Dawnless Day arrives, overshadowing the field. During this the Witch-king returns filled with extra power, which spooks Snowmane and causes him to throw Theoden off to his death. Merry swears revenge. Éowyn challenges the Witch-king, slaying his mount and then dueling him. Merry distracts him with a well-timed stab to the buttocks, allowing Éowyn to slice off his invisible head. Due to the film not having time for the healing-house scenes they are not rendered ill. The Mordor troops panic and start scattering, some throwing themselves into the river. Then the black fleet arrives, giving them fresh hope, only to dash it when the flagship raises not the standard of Mordor but the standard of the King of Gondor. They are thrown into complete disarray at this point and mopped up by the joint Rohan and Gondor forces. Aragorn and Gandalf then prepare for the march on the Black Gate. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is featured in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. There is no darkness to represent the Dawnless Day in the movie, and no one sees the sun until the Rohirrim arrive. However, artificial dark clouds created by Sauron are shown in the film. In the film, the battle starts when the Orcs begin to launch the severed heads of their human prisoners (of the defenders of Osgiliath) towards the city to frighten and demoralize both citizens and soldiers alike as a means of psychological warfare. Denethor orders the army of Gondor to flee, but Gandalf knocks him unconscious, taking command of the fleeing soldiers saying, "Prepare for battle!". He then rides through the streets shouting, "Return to your posts!" The two armies exchange fire with catapults and trebuchets, and hundreds of Orcs and dozens of Gondor soldiers are killed. The Nazgûl began to destroy the trebuchets of Minas Tirith, while more siege towers lumbered towards the walls. The siege towers did reach the walls, but the soldiers of Gondor were able to hold them off, while sustaining some losses as well. At the same time, the Orcs attempted to break the gate with a small wooden battering ram, but it had no effect. Meanwhile, archers of Gondor archers mercilessly shot down at the Orcs, and hundreds were felled. The Orcs eventually brought out their largest battering-ram -- Grond, which by nightfall breaks the city's gate. About 100 soldiers of Gondor engage the trolls, Easterlings, and Orcs at the gate with Gandalf's aid. Despite fighting bravely, the soldiers of Gondor were overwhelmed, and were forced to retreat to the second level of the city. The Orcs then began to swarm through the broken gate torrentially. Despite dozens of archers firing at the Orcs, the invading party heavily outnumbered them. The next day at dawn, the Orcs began to engage in melee combat with the soldiers of Gondor, who were then being slaughtered due to their exhaustion, earned by fighting non-stop through the night. The soldiers of Minas Tirith used the tactic "defend and retreat", which required the Men of Gondor to defend each level shortly, before retreating deeper into their burning citadel. Pippin alerts Gandalf of Denethor's madness and plans of suicide. Gandalf and Pippin rush to stop it, but are confronted by the Witch-king. Gandalf tries to confront the Lord of the Nazgûl, but is defeated when the Witch king breaks Gandalf's staff. Before the Witch-king can slay him, Rohan horns sound, the Witch-king leaves to confront the new threat. At the brink of defeat the Rohirrim, with 6,000 fully armed horsemen, arrive and attack the orcs outside the walls of the city. The orcs open with three volleys into the Rohirrim, killing indiscriminately but failing to impact upon the Rohirrim's momentum. The Rohirrim smashed right through the orcs ranks, breaking the Orcs resolve and lifting the siege of the city. However, hope was lost at the arrival of the Mûmakil, who met the Rohirrim head on and inflicted heavy losses. However, the Haradrim suffer many losses due to the Rohirrim successfully bringing down several Mumakil. The Witch-king also joined the battle with his Fell-beast, mortally wounding King Theoden. Éowyn, who had ridden secretly into the battlefield as Dernhelm, retaliated with two mighty slashes on the Fell Beast's neck, cloving the head asunder. Then the Witch-king and Éowyn engaged in a duel, with Éowyn evading two of his mace swings, and parrying one glancing blow. But she was struck when the head of the flail hit her shield directly, fracturing her arm and causing the shield to break into many pieces. Just as Éowyn faced imminent death by the Witch-king, Merry stabbed the Witch-king in the leg, crippling him and giving Éowyn an opportunity to plunge her blade into the center of the Witch-king's shrouded face, killing him. Back inside the walls of Minas Tirith, the forces of Gondor prepare for a last stand, while down on the Pelennor fields, the remaining Orcs are at the brink of victory. When defeat seemed imminent, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive on the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar and turn the tide of the battle with the aid of the Army of the Dead. These new reinforcements easily annihilated what remained of the besieging force of Orcs, Haradrim, and Mûmakil, with only a few escaping. (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)) Concept and creation Sauron Defeated, the fourth volume of The History of The Lord of the Rings, part of the History of Middle-earth series, contains superseded versions of the battle. Some changes of detail are apparent: e.g. Théoden slain by a projectile to the heart instead of being crushed by his horse; or when Éowyn reveals her sex her hair has been cut short, a detail absent from the final version. Tolkien had also considered having Éowyn die. There are repeated references by Tolkien to a historic account of the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains by Jordanes. Both battles take place between civilisations of the "East" and "West", and like Jordanes, Tolkien describes his battle as one of legendary fame that lasted for several generations. Another apparent similarity is the death of king Theodoric I on the Catalaunian Fields and that of Théoden on the Pelennor. Jordanes reports that Theodoric was thrown off by his horse and trampled to death by his own men who charged forward. Théoden also rallies his men shortly before he falls and is crushed by his horse. And like Theodoric, Théoden is carried from the battlefield with his knights weeping and singing for him while the battle still goes on. Translations References ca:Batalla dels Camps de Pelènnor de:Schlacht auf dem Pelennor es:Batalla de los Campos del Pelennor fr:Bataille des Champs du Pelennor it:Battaglia dei Campi del Pelennor pl:Bitwa na Polach Pelennoru pt-br:Batalha dos Campos de Pelennor ru:Битва на Пеленнорских полях Category:Battles Category:War of the Ring